Dorset County Museum selects Award-winning architects for new project

Dorset County Museum in Dorchester has selected architects Carmody Groarke to renovate and expand their Grade II listed building in Dorchester.

The project would result in the creation of new galleries for Art, Natural History and Costume and Textiles plus a brand new custom-built exhibition space. In addition, the work will create a world-class archival facility and develop a series of new buildings and spaces that will provide more public access to the vast collection.

Named the ‘Collections Discovery Centre’, the project will include new facilities for display, education, research and the proper storage of reserve collections.

Dorset County Museum holds collections numbering approximately 3.5 million objects including one of the most important fossil collections in the UK and the Thomas Hardy Archive. Carmody Groarke’s approach will acknowledge the different curatorial interpretations of the collections and the variety of environmental conditions they require.

Jon Murden, Director of Dorset County Museum said, “We see Carmody Groarke as a critical member of the team who will help turn our vision into reality. They have a track record of inspirational museum and heritage projects and helping smaller charitable organisations secure significant levels of funding to achieve their objectives.” For additional expertise, the Museum is also working with funding applications specialist Stephen Escritt of Counterculture.

The Team at Dorset county Museum are already fundraising in support of the project. Money has been received from private donors, individuals and some charitable trusts.

Work has started on moving some of the museum’s collection to the Old School in Grey School Passage. Purchased in March, the building will provide both temporary and long-term space for storage of collections.

Our new Natural Dorset gallery will give visitors the opportunity to discover over 200 million years of Dorset’s natural history and will allow our Natural History collection to go back on display after a period of almost 20 years in storage.